A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a rail support assembly for supporting the rails of a railroad track. The assembly includes shoulders preferably attached or mounted on a precast concrete tie and a pad disposed on top of the tie and captured between the shoulders so that the whole assembly can be stored and shipped to a track installation/repair site as a single unit.
B. Background of the Invention
Generally speaking, the present invention pertains to the art of securing the rails forming railroad tracks to transversal ties. Typically, a rail support assembly is used that includes a pair of shoulders, somewhat flexible clips engaging the shoulders and shaped to secure the lateral flange of the rail to the tie and a generally electrically insulating pad. The pad is positioned between the two shoulders and under the rail. The elements of rail support assembly are often tied together and shipped to the installation site. For some types of railroads, for example light rails, the shoulders are imbedded into the ties as they are being cast, for example, from concrete and thus are not transported to the site together with the rest of the elements of the support assembly. As a result, the rest of the assembly or some parts thereof, can easily separate, get lost, or stolen. Thus, shipping and installing these support assembly create a logistic and economic nightmare.
It has been suggested by some references (see for instances, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,367,704 and 7,669,779) that the assembles be provided that used captive elements. The assemblies are attached to the shoulders together with the clips to the ties prior to their shipping. However, the previously suggested concepts were only useable with split clips and not with convoluted or S-shaped clips that are now used almost universally. Moreover, the suggested solutions required elements with complex shaped that are difficult and expensive to make; required a complex installation requiring the use of a heavy hammer; and required the rail clip to be part of the assemblies to hold the rail pad in place.